It Truly Is DeSAMber in Minnesota

The Vikings’ quarterback has been a revelation

If you will, think back to the ugly victory that the Minnesota Vikings had over the Jacksonville Jaguars the day before Veterans Day. Sam Darnold had been struggling a bit up to that point, following a loss to the Los Angeles Rams and an up-and-down performance over the Indianapolis Colts, but his season truly cratered in Duval County that day.

In that game, Darnold threw three interceptions and the Vikings managed just four Parker Romo field goals as they struggled to beat one of the NFL’s worst teams, 12-7. Was the bloom off the Sam Darnold rose for this season? Were the Vikings finally getting the Sam Darnold that all the Really Smart Football People™ thought they were getting when they signed him during free agency in March?

Well, it seems that reports of the demise of Sammy Darts were greatly exaggerated, and that has been readily apparent during the month of December.

Following his latest three-touchdown performance in leading the team to a 27-24 comeback win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16, Darnold’s stats for the month of December look like this:

89 completions/134 attempts (66.4% completion percentage), 1,059 yards, 11 touchdowns, and one interception. Oh, and a 4-0 record since the calendar flipped to the final month of the year.

In fact, that interception against the Bears that came on an admittedly ill-advised pass on a fourth down play, is the only interception Darnold thrown since that awful day in Jacksonville. And when the Vikings have needed a drive late in games, Darnold has provided that for them, as we saw with the drive that ended with his 39-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson in Seattle that provided the final margin of victory and the comeback he led in the team’s victory over Arizona a few weeks ago.

Darnold’s three touchdowns on Sunday gave him 32 for the season, a full 13 more than his previous season high of 19 and leaves him one away from tying the record for most touchdowns by a Vikings quarterback in his first season with the team. Right now, Darnold trails only the 33 touchdown passes put up by Brett Favre in his 2009 campaign with Minnesota in that category.

There might be some foolish fans of other teams who are holding their breath and crossing their fingers waiting for the “real” Sam Darnold to appear in the Vikings’ offensive backfield. If the past six games, and the month of DeSAMber specifically, are any indication, I would submit that the real Sam Darnold has been here the whole time.